Hypoallergenic Creamy Celery Soup

     Cream of celery soup usually comes in a can, contains multiple allergens and is used as an ingredient in certain retro recipes.  This hypoallergenic version can be used in those recipes but is actually a tasty soup by itself. It relies on multiple celery parts to get a deep, rich celery flavor, and the celery root provides the thickening.

     You can still serve cream and/or nondairy milk on the side as condiments. Since the milk or cream in a cream soup is only added at the end anyway, this represents no major change in the recipe for anyone who does add cream to their soup. In fact, this ploy has one spectacular advantage: there is no danger of curdling the leftover soup if you later reheat it.

     1/4 c. oil (See Oil in the Glossary)

     1 bunch of celery stalks, washed, trimmed and sliced 

     1 medium onion, sliced

     salt (See Salt in the Glossary)
     1 medium celery root, peeled and cut up

     1 tsp. celery seeds (See Spices in the Glossary)

     4 c. chicken stock or water (See Broth in the Glossary)

     Gently saute the onion and celery in the oil with a pinch of salt until the onion is soft and translucent; do not brown. Add all the other ingredients and boil until  the vegetables are completely soft. Puree thoroughly in batches in a blender. Add a bit more liquid if the soup is too thick. Adjust salt to taste.

     Garnish with crumbled bacon (See Bacon in the Glossary) and/or finely chopped raw celery if you would like some crunch.